"Now is the krisis of this world: now shall the
prince of this world be cast out."--John 12:31.

The Greek word rendered judgment, in this text,
is the word krisis from which our English word crisis is derived,
and to which the same exact meaning is given, viz., The point of time when any
course of action must terminate or take a new course, the decisive moment, the
turning point; as the crisis of a disease, when the turning point for life or
death is reached. Compare Liddell and Scott's Greek Lexicon and Webster's
Dictionary. The word judgment, does not improperly translate the word; for
there is a crisis, a sharply defined decisive turning point in every trial or
judgment. The crisis, the decisive point of judgment was that to which Jesus
referred in the above quotation.

It was just a few days before his crucifixion
that he uttered these words, in full view of the terrible experiences which
must shortly follow. Not long before this he had raised to life Lazarus, the
brother of Martha and Mary, who were then living in Bethany about two miles
from Jerusalem, whither the Jews from all parts assembled to keep the Passover.
The sisters had arranged for the entertainment of Jesus and the disciples on
this occasion. The wonderful miracle had been noised abroad among the Jews, and
as they came up to Jerusalem
multitudes made it a point to see Lazarus, and Jesus who had raised him from
the dead. And when they had seen, the people were convinced that this must be
the Messiah, the king long foretold by the prophets; and upon the spur of their
convictions they determined to acknowledge him publicly as their king. And
"when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem,
they took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried,
Hosanna, Blessed is the king of Israel,
that cometh in the name of the Lord."--John
12:12,13.

But while the hearts of his disciples bounded
high with glowing anticipations as they saw these evidences of public favor,
Jesus was sorrowful, knowing that his hour was come. He knew that the prophecy
of Isaiah was about to be fulfilled --that he was about to be wounded for our
transgressions and bruised for our iniquities; that the chastisement of our
peace was about to be upon him; that it would please the Lord to bruise him, to
put him to grief, to make his soul an offering for sin, to permit him to pour
out his soul unto death, and be numbered with the transgressors.--Isa. 53.

Knowing the bitter disappointment that must soon
overtake the hopes of his disciples, Jesus sought to prepare them in a measure
to receive it. He talked to them of the necessity of entire consecration to the
will of God, even if he should require them to lay down life itself in his
cause; and then he assured them that the Father would assuredly honor and
reward such service.

As he approached the last dreadful conflict, in
full view of it, and with a fixed determination to submit his will fully to the
will of God, even unto death, he said: "Now is my soul troubled, and what
shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But [no], for this cause came I unto this hour: Father, glorify thy name." (vs. 27,28.)
Yes, he had come to this dread hour for the very purpose of suffering death,
that thereby he might redeem the world from the condemnation of death.

It was in reference to this fact that Jesus
said, "Now is the crisis of this world." Yet the world was entirely
unaware of its critical situation at that moment. The world's salvation was in
the balance then. All depended upon the faithfulness of him who was about to
redeem them with his own precious blood. No wonder that when in Gethsemane's
garden, realizing the awful responsibility upon him, and the agony of bearing
it, Jesus sweat great drops of blood; no wonder that weary and faint and
longing for human sympathy, he came time and again to his disciples who could
not realize the situation, longing for their sympathy and saying, Can ye not
watch with me one hour? (Mark 14:34,37.)
Little did they realize that at that critical hour their own and the whole
world's salvation hung upon the shoulders of their trembling, suffering Lord. Yes,
it was the dark hour of the world's crisis.

The world was being judged again, in its
second representative, the man Christ Jesus, who then took upon himself the
penalty which had fallen upon Adam and the race represented in him, thereby
substituting his human being, psuche, for that of the man Adam and those
represented in him.

From the moment that Jesus said, "It is
finished," and died, the crisis was past. That was the great
turning point, the decisive act which legally released man from the bondage of
death and secured for him the right to live again. (Rom.
3:25,26.) That was the decisive act which made Christ the rightful Lord
of the human race which he thus purchased by his death. (Rom.
14:9.) And in that it gave to Christ the right to rule, it fixed the
doom of Satan the usurper. "Now," from that moment it was a settled
thing that the present "prince of this world," Satan, who has the
power of death and reigns only to deceive, oppress and destroy mankind, shall
be cast out. Thus through death Jesus spoiled the principalities and powers of
darkness, and openly showed it in his resurrection, thus triumphing over them
through death.--Col. 2:14,15. Satan's present
sway is only permitted until the time appointed of the Father. His sentence of ejectment was sealed
at Calvary.

That the decisive act which determined this
change of rulership, and turned the condemnation from the world, was the death
of Christ, is clearly seen from the following verses (32,33). "And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me." "This
he said, signifying what death he should die." Jesus had spoken before of
his being lifted up, referring to his crucifixion (John
3:14,15 and 8:28), and the people whom he now addressed
rightly understood him to refer to his death. But ignoring the prophecies which
foretold the death of Christ, they reasoned, If this be the Christ, how can
this be; for the Scripture saith, Christ abideth forever. Blinded by prejudice,
they overlooked or ignored the prophecies which foretold the sufferings, and
saw only the glory that should follow.--1 Pet. 1:11.

The only reply which Jesus made was to not
deceive themselves thus. (Vs. 35,36.)

The world's crisis came and passed, yet the
world was totally unaware of it. As in the crisis of a disease, the patient may
be entirely unaware of the change which takes place at the critical moment, yet
it may be clearly discerned by the skilled physician, so the world was
unconscious of the change which the death of Christ secured for all--the
privilege of restitution to perfection, to harmony with God, and consequently
thorough obedience to everlasting life.

And although nearly two thousand years have
elapsed since the crisis was passed, the mass of mankind are still unaware of
the good tidings of great joy which shall in due time be to all people. Those
however who have been students of the divine Word, know that the time now draws
very near when the world shall all see and experience the blessed results which
must flow from that decisive act of our Lord at the moment of the world's
crisis.

The world has passed through two crises in its
two representatives Adam and Jesus, though unaware of both. The decisive
instant, the crisis, came in each case which determined certain results to the
world. In the first instance the crisis was followed by the "krima" or sentence; sentence came by the one man Adam upon all his race unto
condemnation to death. In the second instance also the crisis was followed by "krima" or sentence which came by the one man Christ Jesus, unto justification to life
(Rom. 5:17-19) giving all the right to live
again because "redeemed," "bought," "purchased by the
precious blood of Christ," who gave himself a ransom for all, to be
testified to all in due time.

While the right to live again which was
purchased for all mankind by the death of Christ, is an everlasting right which
never can nor will be disputed nor ignored by God, it yet remains for man to
individually claim the everlasting continuance of that right, by compliance
with the conditions upon which it is offered; for this right, thus purchased at
so great a cost may be again forfeited by men. But it can never again be
forfeited by a representative, as in the first instance. Each individual
redeemed in the second representative crisis, must stand trial for
himself, and prove his own claim to an everlasting continuance of life by
obedience, or else by disobedience forfeit life for himself--but not for
another.

There is then, a coming individual trial or
judgment and there will therefore be a crisis, a turning point, a
decisive moment and act to each individual, upon which will hinge the issues of
the everlasting future for life or death, in his individual case. If he
gratefully accepts of life and its privileges and future possibilities as the
purchase of the precious blood of Christ, and if he fully and from the heart
complies with the conditions of its everlasting continuance, viz., obedience to
God, then the crisis is past, and the "krima" or sentence, is
in his favor-- to life everlasting: otherwise it is against him--to the second
death. Nor will the life once redeemed, and then again individually forfeited,
ever be redeemed again--"Christ dieth no more;" "there remaineth
no more a sacrifice for sins." Such ungrateful, willful, deliberate
sinners justly merit and shall die the second death.

But while the church with all the world has
passed through the first two crises as represented in Adam and Jesus, the
church shall not come into judgment with the world--John
5:24. Krisis is here translated condemnation.

The church will be receiving her reward, when
the world's individual crisis or judgment is in process. But the church is not
exempt from individual judgment; her crisis takes place before the Millennial
Age, during the Gospel Age now closing. Each member of the church therefore in
the present life is standing on trial for himself, and at some time during the
judgment there comes a critical decisive point to each individual of the
church--a time which proves to be the crisis of our course, where a standstill
is not possible, but where we must go forward either in the right or the wrong
direction, either to the fulfilling of our covenant or the ignoring of it.

In fact, every test that is applied to us,
places us in a critical situation, so that we need to watch and pray that we
may have strength to overcome. And to each there will come a final test, as in
our Lord's case. While the world's representative crisis was reached at the
time appointed for Jesus to lay down his life in sacrifice, it was also a
crisis to him as an individual. As an individual he was being tested, and
proved worthy of the glory to be revealed in him.

The final test in our individual cases may not
always be at death. If we have been faithful in the preceding tests, or if we
have been rightly exercised by the discipline of the Lord, the closing scene of
life will be the last test. It is possible, however, for a consecrated one to
ignore and despise his covenant and to refuse further compliance with it and to
ignore and despise the discipline of the Lord, or to despise the means by which
God brought this salvation to men--even the precious blood of Christ. Such
reach the crisis and turn it unfavorably before death. But to those who
continue faithful and obedient, the final moment of crisis is at death,
even as with the Master --"faithful unto death."

With thankfulness for the grace which carried us
through the crisis of our redemption through the death of Christ, may each
individual of those now on trial, watch and pray that he may successfully pass
through the crisis of his own individual trial.